Stupid
by A Fire in the Attic
Summary: Cato stood outside, shirtless and scowling. He glared at the snow like he might be able to melt it with the intensity of his stare. 25 Days of Ficmas.


**Prompt: Snow**

**Word Count: 691**

**Pairing: Cato and Katniss**

**Stupid**

* * *

Cato stood outside, shirtless and scowling. He had his arms crossed angrily. He glared at the snow like he might be able to melt it with the intensity of his stare.

Of all the things that have sucked about moving to District 12, this may actually be the worst. In District 2, there was no snow. He kicked a snow bank that was steadily building.

He wasn't even sure why he was outside, except that he didn't have any interest in going back inside to be fussed over by Prim, who had decided for some reason that he was her big brother…or something. He wasn't really clear on that.

In any case, he wasn't going back inside until Katniss returned from the Hob. She was talking to Haymitch, probably about something stupid, like rebelling.

She had a lot of stupid ideas.

And damn, he was fond of them.

Which was totally, completely stupid.

But whatever.

Gale was still in the Everdeen living room, and, ya know, he still kind of hated him. Just another reason to freeze in the snow.

He huffed and rubbed his arms. This was just like training, right? He could handle the cold for…it must have been at least an hour, right?

It had probably been like five minutes.

He started pacing. He made five circuits before something cold and slushy hit his back. He spun, stunned.

Haymitch and Katniss stood nearby, Katniss with a hand pressed tightly against her mouth, hiding a smile. Haymitch didn't bother to hide his amusement; he just dusted his hands off on his jeans. The culprit.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked. "Aren't you cold?"

He scowled, deciding not to answer. "What was that?"

"Snowball," Haymitch answered.

He stared at him blankly.

Katniss leaned down, scooped up some snow, and packed it together. She walked over to Cato and handed it to him. "Nail him."

"What?"

"Throw it."

So he did, and the ball of snow hit Haymitch in the gut.

Haymitch groaned, but bent down and made another ball. He threw it at Katniss this time, and waited, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

"You're better at throwing than I am," Katniss mumbled to him.

Cato looked down at her. "What?"

"I'll make the snowballs. You pelt him."

He looked at her, eyes narrowed. This was probably a stupid idea, again…but… "Deal."

And suddenly, he was in the middle of his first snowball fight, which was so weird—fighting for fun wasn't necessarily something he understood, but whatever, he could deal with it.

Prim joined in the fight at some point, choosing to help Haymitch and giving him a completely unfair advantage. Cato didn't have it in him to hit her with any amount of force. She still seemed pleased about it, another thing that confused Cato. You weren't supposed to like getting hit. That was the whole point of training, back in District 2.

Some things about District 12 weren't so bad, he thought.

Later, when they were too cold, Katniss and Prim pulled him inside and forced him to drink tea and eat soup. Katniss curled up next to him under a blanket "to warm you up."

She'd been touching him casually more often recently. It's something he's pretty sure he could get used to.

So maybe all of her ideas weren't stupid, and maybe the snow wasn't so bad, either.

He pushed his icy face into her neck and grinned when she shuddered away from him. "Warm me up, firegirl," he challenged her.

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his face and kissed him (as far as everyone knew, they were in love, after all. It was only natural).

This kiss might have meant something, though. He wasn't sure if the warmth curling up in his stomach was because his lips were frozen and hers seemed to be hot as the noonday sun, or if it was because she was Katniss, and what he felt wasn't entirely a charade.

It was always hard to tell with her.

When she pulled away, he convinced himself that it was a stupid idea.

And damn, he was fond of it.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games**

**A/N:** This is being published approximately 30 minutes late...but I'm not asleep yet so I'm going to act like it's still yesterday.

Something to note about this story...it's set in a world where Katniss and Cato won the Games instead of Katniss and Peeta, and for obvious reasons, they're pretending to be in love. But it's been a few months and they've been stuck hanging out with each other, so they're kind of friends, kind of more. I hope that came across. At some point, I will finish the actual fanfiction that this would fit into. But in any case, have this! 3 days, going strong!

Written for 25 Days of Ficmas (link on profile).


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